Boston blows a fourth-quarter lead and is crushed by Indiana.
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers proved they’re more than Ron Artest and Jermaine O’Neal on Tuesday night.

A group of reserves rescued the Pacers with an 18-1 run spanning the third and fourth quarters in a 103-90 win over the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

With an erratic O’Neal watching from the bench and Artest watching from home because of a suspension, Austin Croshere and Jonathan Bender ignited a lifeless Pacers team late in the third quarter.

Croshere hit a 3-pointer at the close of the third period and Bender brought a boisterous crowd to its feet with a brilliant three-point play on a dunk in the fourth to give the Pacers a 72-69 lead.

Bender capped the run with a 3-pointer that gave the Pacers an 82-72 lead with 7:21 to play and propelled them to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The series moves to Boston for Game 3 on Friday night.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 27 points, but again struggled from the field despite the absence of Artest, the NBA’s defensive player of the year.

Al Harrington was the only “starter” on the floor during Indiana’s surge, and he is normally the team’s sixth man. He was filling in for Artest, suspended for one game by the NBA on Monday for leaving the bench during a confrontation in the Pacers’ Game 1 win.

Artest took just a few steps onto the court when O’Neal tangled with Boston rookie Brandon Hunter, but the league deemed it enough of an infraction to hand out the suspension.

Pierce figured to have an easier time with Artest out, but that wasn’t the case. He made just seven of 18 shots after going 5-for-18 in Game 1.

The Celtics again couldn’t find a way to compete with the Pacers for the full 48 minutes. The Pacers held two short leads in the first half as Boston forced nine turnovers and held a 19-6 advantage in fast-break points. Pierce hit five of 10 shots in the first half and scored 11 points.

as Boston took a 46-41 lead.

But the Celtics again fell to the deep and talented Pacers in the third quarter.

Indiana outscored Boston 50-30 in the paint and has a 98-58 advantage inside in the two games. O’Neal finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but it was the second unit, including Croshere, Bender, Fred Jones and Anthony Johnson, that made the difference.

AP-ES-04-20-04 2319EDT